Spoilers are ahead from Monster: The Ed Gein Story episode 7.
We've made it to the penultimate episode! In episode 6, Ed's horrific crimes finally came to light. When questioned by police about the disturbing things found in his home, Ed claimed that he had a hobby of digging up graves and collecting body parts as keepsakes. However, he denied any involvement in the disappearances of local townspeople and the death of Bernice Worden. We’re closing in on the series finale of Monster: The Ed Gein Story. Let’s see where things go from here!
Worden auctions off Ed’s possessions
Deputy Worden continues to struggle with the horrifying discovery that Ed murdered his mother and hung up her mutilated body in the barn. He's drinking a lot and not really fit to work. Sheriff Schley calls him into his office to speak to him about his plan to sue Ed's estate. Worden explains that he intends to auction off Ed's belongings to collect damages because he feels it’s the only way to get some justice for his mother and hold Ed accountable for the pain he caused.
Instead of being placed in prison, Ed has been committed to a mental institution. Doctors determine he is unfit to stand trial due to insanity. Although Schley understands where Worden is coming from, he doesn't believe selling off Ed’s belongings is the right thing to do. However, Worden is far past listening to reason and is determined to proceed with the auction.
Tons of people turn up to the auction. Worden even charges admission just to enter Ed's home to look at his stuff. Schley shows up and tries to get Worden to stop the auction again, but Worden refuses to listen. While the auction continues on, Worden takes Ed's old car for a ride around town to get people to place bids on it. He returns to Ed's property to find that it has been burned down, along with all of his belongings. Now there's nothing to auction off besides his car. However, people immediately start bidding.
Ed seemingly speaks with Ilse and Christine
Amid the frenzy of the auction, Ed appears to be living comfortably in the mental hospital. One of the nurses, Salty, even delivers him some good news. With all of his belongings sold, he has made $300. Salty offers him a deal. She'll get him whatever he wants if he gives her a small cut of his money. Ed agrees and asks her to buy three Ham radios. Why? Well, he wants to use them to contact two people.
Those two people are his idols, Ilse Koch and Christine Jorgensen. He first gets in contact with Ilse, who is currently in prison in Germany for her crimes. She repeatedly insists to Ed that she isn’t guilty of the things she’s been accused of, while Ed admits he hasn’t killed anyone. Yet, he doesn’t deny making a belt from human skin.
They continue sharing the hardships of their confinement. Ilse talks about her arthritis from standing for long hours in her cell, and Ed mentions his aches and occasional seizures. Their conversation is cut short when the prison guards inform Ilse that it’s time for lights out. Before hanging up, she tells Ed not to let anyone label him a monster. Knowing that she'll never escape imprisonment, Ilse decides to end her life by hanging herself with a bed sheet.
Ed calls famous actress and singer Christine Jorgensen next via the Ham radio. He struggles with his gender identity and wonders if he might be transgender. Since Christine is a trans woman, Ed hopes she can offer him insight and advice. He explains to her how he's been close to female body parts before.
As viewers, we're shown Ed fully dressed in a suit made of human flesh. He places a vulva, taken from a dead body, inside his underwear and then stands up to dance around. While this is going on, we also see flashes of the making of the movie The Silence of the Lambs, which is inspired by real-life serial killer Ed Gein. Although Christine is disturbed to hear all the things Ed is telling her about the crimes he committed, she still tries to help him by addressing his confusion about identity.
She tells him that she doesn’t believe he is transgender, but instead a gynephiliac. She describes it as a person who is excessively sexually attracted to women’s bodies. Ed struggles to process everything. Now he feels more lost than ever about who he is. Christine wishes him a good night and they end the call. Suddenly, a woman bursts through Ed's door. She's the new head nurse, Roz, and she informs Ed that he will no longer have the same level of freedom he had before.
Luckily for Ed, Salty helps him by secretly providing a set of keys, allowing him to come and go from his room freely. But Ed is in an even worse mental space after his call with Christine. He's constantly hearing voices telling him to kill people. One night, Ed corners Roz in the bathroom and uses a chainsaw to attack her. He leaves her bloody, dead body on the bathroom floor. However, what's weird is that he sees her walking the halls the next morning. He immediately starts freaking out and tells the hospital doctor that he killed her the previous night. The doctor then takes Ed to his office.
Ed's diagnosed with schizophrenia
During his conversation with the doctor, an emotional Ed reveals that a voice has been speaking to him in his room. When the doctor asks who he believes it to be, Ed replies that it’s the devil. He goes on to explain that the voice urges him to commit evil acts so that he can take his soul. The doctor informs Ed that a nurse told him they witnessed him using a Ham radio to talk to someone. Ed tells the doctor that he was speaking with Christine, who told him that he's a gynephiliac.
But here's the shocking thing. The doctor tells Ed that he told him what gynephiliac meant, not Christine. In fact, the doctor explains to Ed that he never spoke to Christine because the Ham radios he had asked to be sent out were never actually sent. That means Ed never talked to Ilse either. The doctor explains to Ed that he was using different voices to carry out these conversations. He was talking to himself the entire time.
Ed starts crying even harder. The doctor then comes clean about his findings. He explains to Ed that he has talked to him long enough and has consulted with colleagues to come to a diagnosis. The doctor gently tells Ed that he has schizophrenia, a condition that explains the voices he’s been hearing and the hallucinations he's been having. Ed asks him if that's why he killed Bernice and Mary and dug up graves, and the doctor tells him yes.
As Ed continues to cry, the doctor tells him that there's hope for him despite everything. He states that he can give him a pill that will stop the voices in his head and all the hallucinations. He explains to Ed that it will make him feel whole. The episode ends with Ed taking the medicine and hugging Roz.
All eight episodes of Monster: The Ed Gein Story are streaming on Netflix.